


Faro's End

by BluSheep



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Apocalypse, Grief/Mourning, Inspired by Frankenstein, Other, Penitence, Self-Hatred, Suicidal Thoughts, Ted-Hate Done Right, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-29 20:44:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20088496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluSheep/pseuds/BluSheep
Summary: Theodore Faro has labored for a little over a decade to automate the world's armies. He had done so to end all human suffering caused by warfare, that much is true, but his efforts have turned against him despite attempts at ameliorating the underlying issues. With the world on the brink of utter destruction, Faro wishes to be with his wife, the love his life, during those uncertain times, but the U.S. government will not have him leave the country. However, love that has existed since childhood isn't so easily subverted.





	Faro's End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/182118497@N04/48450864311/in/dateposted-public/)
> 
> Nobel Peace Prize 2059 - Theodore Faro
> 
> Born: 24 December 2013, Utah, U.S.
> 
> Role: CEO of Faro Automated Solutions
> 
> Prize Motivation: "For his resolute efforts to bring an end to human-against-human warfare, which has plagued the world since the dawn of humanity."
> 
> **Life**
> 
> Theodor Faro was born on the 24th of December, 2013, in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America. After completing high school, he studied business at the University of California for two years, before dropping out in 2033 and founding FAS. Initially, the corporation struggled, but it found success at the end of the 2030s through its personal servitor and bodyguard automatons, which proved highly popular, as well as highly popular personal devices such as the Focus.[1](https://horizonzerodawn.fandom.com/wiki/Ted_Faro)
> 
> **Work**
> 
> Nearly half a century ago, DARPA had attempted to create a line of autonomous military robots dubbed EATRs (Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robots), but had failed before the project could be realized. Thirty years later in 2048, Ted Faro and his company created a line of lethal autonomous robots (LARs), which have made human armies worldwide a thing of the past. These LARs, dubbed the Chariot-line, have reduced human suffering tenfold, if not a hundredfold, since their implementation in the remaining non-automated armies four years ago in 2055. By awarding Theodore Faro the Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has wanted to encourage continued dialogue and struggles for a gradual separation of warfare from human endeavors.

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/182118497@N04/48450688626/in/dateposted-public/)

Faro Automated Solutions campus, Colorado.

* * *

“Ted!” Shouted Elisabet with a stern voice. “Tell me now. Do you want to help me, or do you wanna spend the rest of your life in a cell?”

Mr. Faro, a usually meek and lively man, sat on his high-back chair with a dispirited, pensive look on his face. He seemed to be preoccupied with something, eying the table with grave eyes. He hadn’t been paying attention to Liz’s holo-projection, which hovered over the table two or three feet in front of him. A brief silence followed her words.

“Ted! What’s it gonna be? I’m en route to U.S. Robot Command right now. All I need is your signature,” she said, her purple holo-projection rocking slightly as she sat in the USRC aircraft.

Her condescending tone was so unlike his wife’s voice, which he missed dearly. It was his wife that took up all the space in his mind then.

“Lis, I’ll sign it under one condition,” he anxiously said, clasping his hands on the table.

She remained silent, waiting for him to continue. He was intimidated by her demeanor even though it was only her projection before him. He knew from experience that she could be frightening like a school teacher whenever they would argue about company matters. The last time that she had been so upset with him face to face was when she had still been working with him.

“I’ll sign the damn thing if you let me go to my wife,” he solemnly said, looking at her. “I need to see her.”

“Didn’t you read the proposal? One of it's stipulations is that you will be prohibited from leaving the United States. There’s no way around that, Ted,” she firmly said.

“Then I’m not signing it, Lis. That’s that,” he calmly said, afraid of never seeing his beloved wife again.

“Alright then,” she said, looking at her wristwatch. “I’ll inform General Herres that you will be arrested and sent to—”

“Goddammit, Elisabet!” He shouted, slamming a fist on the table. “Let me see her again! I have every right to see her! I'll sign if you let me go.”

“And you had every right to prevent this mess, this _plague,_ that you’ve created!” She quickly retorted. “Emma wouldn’t be in danger right now if you hadn’t fucked up like you had! I warned you, many, many times!”

“I am aware of that, Sobeck," he calmly said. "But I am gonna see her again or I will die trying. You can count on that.”

“You’re not allowed to die. It won’t happen. The government will take every measure necessary to assure that you can’t die, not even by your own hands,” she calmly said.

Theodore was on the verge of crying at her heavy words, which had been like those of a judge sentencing a criminal to a thousand years in solitary confinement. If he couldn’t see his beloved ever again, then suicide would be the next best thing. However, he wasn’t even allowed to kill himself. There were no weapons in the FAS building nor were there sufficient heights to jump from. There were myriad safety measures that would make sure that no employees could harm themselves or others on the premises.

“If…if I sign this, will the police and military leave me alone?” He asked, feeling defeated, but thinking up a plan.

“For the most part they will, Ted. All you have to do is sign and they won’t lay a finger on you.”

“Will I be allowed to go to my house?”

“Yes, Ted. Now sign the proposal, please.”

He warily eyed her after signing, afraid that she would somehow read his mind and learn of his plans. He had thought of a hundred ways to see his wife again and he had decided upon one that he hoped with all his heart would work. He needed to see her again. He needed to see his wife and hold her. For the past five years or so, Faro had been wholly preoccupied with perfecting his creation, his Peacekeepers as he called them. He had chosen the name _Peacekeepers _not for irony, but because he had always believed that the automation of the world’s militaries would be for the good of humanity. He had been driven to shift FAS’s focus to the creation of lethal autonomous robots after his wife’s brother was killed in one of the last human-on-human conflicts long ago. He had been pained by her sorrow and had resolved one quiet night to focus on automating warfare, so that no one would have to die in a war ever again. He loved his wife that much.

“I would like to go home now,” Ted said.

“Go ahead. But you’ll have a new assignment in a few days. Be ready.”

With that, Elisabet’s holo-projection suddenly vanished and Ted was left alone with his emotions. He looked around at the empty, quiet meeting room for a while, trying to stifle the dread that pooled within his heart. There he sat on the top floor of his building in Colorado while the love of his life was in China on a business trip. He manipulated his Focus’ interface and tapped on his wife’s name on his contact list. He listened to the warbling ringtone for a few seconds before she picked up.

“Honey, how’s everything? Are you okay?” Ted asked, trying to keep his composure.

“Hey honey, I’m fine. The PLA’s all over the place right now. I’ve heard that there’s some sort of invasion going on in Vietnam and the Philippines. They’re saying it’s robots,” she said with a tinge of anxiety.

She was oblivious to the dire situation over there. Faro felt a heavy dread weigh on his chest like an anchor. His “Peacekeepers” were entirely capable of crossing the South China Sea, although the Khopeshes were the only elements out of the three that didn’t have seafaring capabilities.

“Did you reserve a flight to Europe yet? You have to go to the UK, honey. It’s not safe there.”

“I booked a flight this morning, but there’s a lot of delays and everyone seems to be trying to get out too. What’s going on, Ted? I’ve heard that it’s robots.”

“It’s…it’s a”—he couldn’t lie to her—“The military’s saying that it’s my robots, the Peacekeepers. Sobeck told me that Hartz-Timor’s army was deliberately hacked, there’s no backdoor to stop them. I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault, Emma,” he stoically said, not intending to invite sympathy.

“It’s not your fault, Ted. You were forced to remove any and all backdoors, remember? You couldn’t have done anything about it if that’s what’s troubling you,” she assured him. “You warned them about this.”

In a way, she was right. The Hartz-Timor Energy Combine and other combines both foreign and domestic had placed much pressure on him long ago to remove all backdoors from his Chariot robots. He had been threatened by various combines to have the USRC’s bots be hacked by unknown national traitors and hackers. Many of the brightest minds that had worked with DARPA, the DoD, or FAS had realigned with foreign governments over the past years as was always the case throughout history. Some had simply disagreed with the U.S. government’s principles like Edward Snowden half a century ago. China was one of the countries that defectors favored the most.

A few disasters had been caused by the hacking of military robots affiliated with different combines and he had been pressured to remove any and all backdoors because of that fact.

“Baby, I don’t think our call’s being monitored so I’m gonna be frank. I’m going over there to be with you. I need to see you again. I miss you so much,” he said, feeling sorrow grow in him again.

“I can just go back there, honey. Why do you have to come all the way here?” She asked, evidently confused.

“You’re too smart, Emma. They want to keep you there for a…project in Xinjiang. You might not be able to leave unless you can get past the Chinese government. You think you can do that?”

“What? What do you mean? Why would they want me? What project?”

“It’s…it’s a sort of backup plan. It’s kind of complicated. Try to get out of there as soon as possible, okay. Go to Germany or the UK. You’ll be safe there,” he said, his heart beating quickly.

“Okay, I will. But you have to tell me about this project eventually. I’m confused. Does it have to do with the robots?”

“Yeah, it does, honey. It’s a backup plan for if the bots…if the bots are too much to handle.”

“What? Too much to handle?”

“Don’t worry, Emma. Just get to the UK as soon as you can. I’ll meet you there. The Chinese military will handle the problem.”

“Okay, I trust you, Ted,” she calmly said. “I love you.”

“I love you too, honey. And…and I’m sorry for everything,” he said, feeling remorse.

“Why are you apologizing?” She gently asked.

“It’s my fault, Emma. I shouldn’t’ve given in to the pressure. I should’ve kept the backdoors. I’m behind all of this.”

“You warned them many times, Ted. You did your best. We all saw this coming from miles away, but they forced you to make them impregnable.”

“It’s not just that. I created those robots, the one’s ravaging Vietnam and Cambodia. I _made _them.”

“You made them for a good reason, Ted. For ten years, no one has had to die in a pointless war. You've saved many lives, Ted. This mistake doesn’t change that.”

“Why are you always so kind to me, Emma. I’m a piece of shit, you know that. I don’t deserve you.”

“Be quiet, Theodore,” she said with her usual, playful sternness. “I bet you’re saying that ‘cause you wanna leave me.”

He chuckled at her humor and she did so to a moment later.

“Emma, I wanna see you again,” he said.

“I know you do,” she said. "I miss you too."

Faro remained silent, wanting to hear her voice instead of talking himself.

"Well then. I hope I get a flight soon. You better meet me in England.”

“I will, honey. I promise.”

“I’ve gotta go now, honey. I love you.”

“I love you too. Be safe, alright?”

“I’ll try.”

“You have to try your best.”

“I will, honey. I’ll call you later today.”

“Okay, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

With that, she hung up and Faro was left alone once again. He sat for a while amid the silence, then feeling a rush of resolve pervade his spirit, he quickly rose from his chair and headed for the automatic doors. He would see her again; he was intent on that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 The information under the "Life" subheading is taken from the HZD Wiki.


End file.
